OceanaGold has new banking facilities

Monday 30th June 2014

OceanaGold Corp, New Zealand’s largest gold miner, has new banking arrangements it says will give it more flexibility.

The owner of Macraes Mine in North Otago says a new $200 million revolving credit facility will mature on June 30, 2017, replacing existing facilities maturing on June 30, 2015.

The existing facility of $117.8 million is being repaid. It had undrawn capacity of $50 million.

Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, Citibank NA, HSBC and Nedbank Capital Plc are providing the new facility.

OceanaGold did not provide details of the terms of the new facility beyond saying they were competitive and the corporate debt covenants were standard.

The new facility provided additional liquidity and flexibility, the company said.

OceanaGold has been moving to strengthen its balance sheet by repaying debt and increasing cash.

The new banking arrangements demonstrated that the company’s banking syndicate had confidence in it, the company said.

OceanaGold repaid $20 million of the old revolving credit facility in the first quarter of the 2014 financial year, according to its first quarter accounts.

It had financing charges of $2.4 million in the first quarter compared to $8 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Mining was temporarily suspended at open pit at Macraes in April when a pit wall collapsed after heavy rain. There were no injuries to workers and no stoppage to production but the mine has been processing some lower grade ore from stockpiles since.

The shares last traded at $3.39, and have soared 98 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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